A large number of zombies were getting closer and closer to the group. Xiao Lou estimated that there were at least tens of thousands of zombies. Moreover, these zombies were "inanimate objects" and could not be controlled by dizziness or sleep. They also had high attack power. Forcing their way out was a last resort. If a teammate was injured or had his neck snapped by a zombie in the process, it would be no joke!
Avoid battle if possible. Unfortunately, they now face an abyss with no way out. Even flying doesn't offer enough flight cards …
In this critical moment, Xiao Lou's mind raced as he considered a solution.
Ye Qi simply took out a piano and said, " Professor Xiao, I'll try to stall for time for everyone!"
The piano's control effect is "immobilization," similar to the [ Nine Palaces Grid ] card in the lower-level dungeon, which can also immobilize undead creatures.
Unfortunately, the piano's immobilization range is only 100 meters, while the horde of zombies in front of them stretches as far as the eye can see, far exceeding the controllable range of 100 meters. But at least Ye Qi can immobilize the nearby zombies to buy time for his teammates.
Ye Qi sat at the front of the line and began to play the piano. The rain pounded on the piano, soaking Ye Qi completely, his hands covered in water, but he still tried his best to remain calm and play the piece correctly.
The zombies in front of them were indeed frozen in place as if they had been "struck by pressure points".
Ye Qi said, "I can play this piece for 10 minutes, and it's effective against zombies. Everyone, think of something quickly!"
Xiao Lou looked back at the cliff behind him—it was bottomless, and a cloud of mist seemed to linger below.
In TV dramas and martial arts novels, when the protagonists are forced to the edge of a cliff, they usually choose to jump off. Due to the "protagonist never dies" law, after jumping off the cliff, the protagonist either encounters a reclusive master or unparalleled martial arts skills, or is helped by a benefactor.
These days, it's not like filming a TV show; you can just jump down and they'll be wiped out instantly.
Xiao Lou quickly looked around. Mass Grave was actually located on a mountaintop. When they escaped, they tried to flee in the direction with fewer tombstones, but they fell into a trap—they did escape from Mass Grave, but they ended up at the highest point of the cliff, where the cliff blocked their way.
Turning back and running in the opposite direction at this point is not advisable, as all the zombies have already been attracted there.
It can only be transported by group.
Xiao Lou took a deep breath and looked at Lu Jiuchuan, saying, "Brother Jiu, only you can avoid the zombie horde and fly high in the sky right now. We can try our best to hold off these zombies and buy you some time. Please ride the Vermilion Bird to scout below the cliff. Once you find a safe place, use Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Spring to pull us there!"
After saying that, he took out the [ Tao Yuanming ] card from the card holder and tossed it to Lu Jiuchuan.
At the same time, [ Qin Guan ] was handed over to Yu Hanjiang so that he could connect to Ninth Brother via Telepathic Connection. This way, Yu Hanjiang could know immediately if Lu Jiuchuan made any discoveries.
Lu Jiuchuan, riding the Vermilion Bird, bent down to take the card and said, "No problem! Xiao Tang will come with me. The drone can also scout. Wait for us to come back!"
Without saying another word, he gently stroked the Vermilion Bird's back with his slender fingers. The fiery red bird obeyed its master's will, immediately spread its wings, and flew with Lu Jiuchuan to the other side of the cliff!
The Vermilion Bird recognizes its master and only allows Lu Jiuchuan to ride on its back; no one else is allowed to ride it. Tang Ci was carried by Lu Jiuchuan with one hand as they flew together.
The Vermilion Bird quickly flew high into the sky. Tang Ci's body was only held tightly around the waist by Lu Jiuchuan's arms, with his legs completely dangling in the air. This made him feel very insecure, as he would fall at any moment if Lu Jiuchuan let go of his arms.
Tang Ci gripped Lu Jiuchuan's arm tightly.
Noticing Tang Ci gripping him tightly, as if grasping at a lifeline, Lu Jiuchuan gently comforted him, "Don't be afraid. You're so light. Holding you with one hand is like holding a cat. I won't let you fall."
Tang Ci said unhappily, "What do you mean, 'a cat'? I weigh 130 pounds, which is a standard weight."
Lu Jiuchuan chuckled softly, not wanting to make any more jokes and anger him, and changed the subject, saying, "Let's take a look at the drone and see what's going on with this cliff."
Without his prompting, Tang Ci had already summoned the drone to photograph the surrounding environment.
Looking down through the light of the luminous pearl, they saw that the entire mountaintop was teeming with zombies. Their teammates were surrounded by the horde. Xiao Lou's lantern tree in Mass Grave was swaying precariously in the storm, and the area around the lantern tree was also crowded with zombies.
The sheer number of zombies terrified Tang Ci. He said, "Zombies are all reanimated corpses. It's unbelievable that Mass Grave buried so many people. The setting of this secret chamber shouldn't be the modern world... It's very likely ancient times?"
Lu Jiuchuan agreed, "Yes. In ancient times, wars and plagues often wiped out entire villages at once, so it makes sense that tens of thousands of corpses were dumped in Mass Grave. But what about the terrain of the cliffs? Can the drone observe that?"
Tang Ci said, "The light is too dim, let's fly down and take a look."
Lu Jiuchuan rode the Vermilion Bird and swooped down, letting it fly at a low altitude of about 10 meters above the ground. This way, Tang Ci could clearly observe the situation on the ground while ensuring safety. Zombies cannot fly, and even if they looked up at them after seeing the light, they could never reach them.
Soon, the two arrived near where they had placed the [Lantern Tree]. Tang Ci continued to monitor the distance between himself and the Lantern Tree and flew in the opposite direction.
Just now, in order to wait for his teammates, Lu Jiuchuan deliberately slowed down the Vermilion Bird's flight speed.
In reality, Suzaku, flying at full speed, was as fast as lightning. In the blink of an eye, Suzaku had taken them away from Mass Grave in the opposite direction.
Tang Ci quickly analyzed the terrain of Mass Grave using footage taken by drone. He said, "The mountain is extremely steep. A large area at the top of the mountain has become Mass Grave, where bodies are buried. The very top is a 90-degree vertical cliff with no bottom in sight. The initial estimate is that the cliff is more than 3,000 meters high. Below the cliff is all loose rocks. If you jump down, you will be smashed into a pulp."
Lu Jiuchuan raised an eyebrow and said, "Surviving a fall off a cliff is just a scene from a TV drama. Let's find a place to land as soon as possible."
Just then, a bolt of lightning suddenly ripped through the night sky, nearly striking the Vermilion Bird's wing. Fortunately, Lu Jiuchuan reacted quickly, narrowly dodging the lightning while riding the Vermilion Bird. He used Telepathic Connection to call Yu Hanjiang, " Xiao Tang and I have already gone down the mountain. How's the situation on your end?"
Yu Hanjiang said, " Ye Qi is still playing the piano; the zombie horde is temporarily under control..."
Before he could finish speaking, a thunderclap nearly shattered everyone's eardrums, followed by a series of booming thunderclaps that completely drowned out the piano music.
As if jolted awake, the zombies jolted violently and lunged at Ye Qi with their pale hands outstretched—
Ye Qi's expression changed, and he shouted, "Oh no! The sound of the piano was drowned out by the thunder, and the zombie horde has gone out of control!"
The thunder was so loud that I had to shout to speak, otherwise my teammates couldn't hear me at all.
Xiao Lou quickly distributed the team's voice headsets to everyone, instructing them to press and hold the headsets while speaking. He explained that the sound transmission would be clearer when the headsets were placed in the ears, minimizing interference from thunder.
He turned around and saw that the zombie horde had fully awakened, their dead fish eyes staring at them as they hopped and rapidly approached.
The piano controls the game using its notes, but now that those notes are drowned out by thunder, the zombie horde can no longer be immobilized. Similarly, Li Qingzhao's skill for controlling the battlefield requires reciting words; since the piano notes are inaudible, Li Qingzhao's voice is useless.
Xiao Lou took a deep breath, pressed his earpiece, and said, "Cover me, everyone!"
Gui Yuanzhang understood, immediately took out his brush, and swung it forward. The rain, affected by the floating wind, splashed towards the zombie horde with a "whoosh," knocking back the charging zombies by five meters!
Old Mo was quick-witted and agile. After Senior Gui repelled the zombies, he directly built a row of marble walls in front of the zombie horde.
This was the first time anyone had seen Old Mo build a wall so quickly.
He stacked the Marble Bricks together like building blocks, and in the blink of an eye, he built a huge wall about 10 meters long and 5 meters high, blocking the zombie horde's advance!
Marble Bricks are limited in number, and the size of the wall he can build is the only limit.
Old Mo hastily wiped the rain off his face and said nervously, "It won't last long; the zombies should be able to scale the wall."
Xiao Lou's expression was serious: "I know. Everyone, step back and come to my side!"
When everyone turned around, they saw Xiao Lou take out the [ Compass ] card and draw a large circle about 10 meters in diameter around himself, enveloping all his teammates in the circle.
Ye Qi's eyes lit up: "Is it the invincible circle of Compass?"
"Yes, but it can only last for 10 minutes." Xiao Lou put away the Compass and looked at Yu Hanjiang, saying, "Tell Brother Jiu and the others to hurry up. They must find a place to stay within 10 minutes and open Peach Blossom Spring to bring people in, otherwise, we will be overwhelmed by the zombie horde!"
"Understood." Yu Hanjiang glanced at the zombies climbing over the wall with a grim face and said via Telepathic Connection, "Brother, Xiao Lou has activated the invincible circle on Compass. There are only 10 minutes left. You guys need to find a safe place as soon as possible!"
"Okay, we've already come down the mountain!"
Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci had already left the cliff where Mass Grave was. They saw a dense forest, with the rain pounding on the leaves. They didn't know if there were any animals in the forest, and even if there were, most animals wouldn't be out in the rain.
Lu Jiuchuan let the Vermilion Bird fly over the treetops, and asked in a low voice, " Xiao Tang, is this forest safe?"
Tang Ci said, "It's pouring rain right now, so it's best if we don't spend the night in the woods. It would be troublesome if we were surrounded by wild animals or snakes. Let's try to find a flat area."
Lu Jiuchuan said, "Okay, then I'll just fly over this forest."
The Vermilion Bird flapped its wings and swiftly flew across the forest.
Just then, lightning flashed across the sky, and unexpectedly, the two saw a small town not far ahead.
In the flash of lightning, the town's white-walled, tiled buildings were clearly visible to the two. The wide roads were paved with smooth flagstones, spotless after the downpour. Raindrops pattered on the stones, producing a rhythmic, pleasant sound. Lanterns hanging along the roadside swayed gently in the rainy night.
The small town, battered by wind and rain, was eerily quiet.
None of the houses had lights on, likely because the town's residents were already asleep.
Another bolt of lightning struck, and the two clearly saw three words engraved on the stone tablet at the entrance— Qingfeng Town.
Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci exchanged a glance, and the latter said softly, "Brother Jiu, Mass Grave has been discovered nearby. There's definitely something strange about Qingfeng Town. Should we go in? Or should we spend the night outside the town?"
At the same time, on the mountaintop.
Countless zombies had surrounded Xiao Lou and his companions. The invincible circle created by Compass would block all attacks. The zombies were stuck on a transparent barrier, unable to get any closer, and could only stare wide-eyed at Xiao Lou and his friends...
Although the interior of the Compass circle is absolutely safe, the entire oval-shaped "barrier" is crawling with zombies.
The corpses, those zombies were right in front of me, some with their tongues out, others with blood in their mouths—the sight was truly chilling.
Chu Huaying frowned and turned her head away, not wanting to look anymore.
Shao Qingge simply closed his eyes and silently recited the core socialist values.
As Ye Qi looked around and observed the zombies, he analyzed, "Do you think the zombies in Mass Grave are just something the Guardian created to annoy us, or are they related to the plot puzzles of this game?"
Xiao Lou glanced thoughtfully at the zombies' attire—bright red wedding dresses, children's hair in buns, and all the men with long hair. Although the corpses had been buried underground for a long time and the clothes were somewhat tattered, the attire clearly indicated that they were from ancient times.
Xiao Lou said, " Zombies have already appeared in Spade 2, and another wave of zombies is coming in level K. Guardian probably won't let us start by simply fighting small monsters. I suspect that there's something fishy about the origin of these zombies. Something may have happened in the nearby villages or towns."
Yu Hanjiang agreed: "Yes, these zombies are strange. After all, this is a four-in-one escape room, so it won't just be about letting us escape. We might have to solve some kind of puzzle."
The time for Compass is almost up. Xiao Lou saw that there were only 30 seconds left on the countdown and couldn't help but feel nervous: "How's Ninth Brother doing? There are only 30 seconds left on Compass!"
As soon as he finished speaking, an invitation to Peach Blossom Spring popped up in front of everyone's eyes.
Luckily, I made it in time! Xiao Lou breathed a slight sigh of relief and pressed the "agree" button.
The scene before their eyes suddenly blurred, and everyone found themselves under a familiar peach tree.
Tang Ci looked at his teammates and asked, "Are you all alright?"
Xiao Lou shook his head: "We used various methods to stop the zombies, and no one was injured."
Lu Jiuchuan stepped forward and said, " Xiao Tang and I discovered a small town at the foot of the mountain called Qingfeng Town. We don't know what's inside, so we haven't dared to go in yet. We've placed a Peach Blossom Spring outside the town to bring you here."
The group exchanged glances— Xiao Lou had indeed guessed correctly.
Ye Qi asked doubtfully, "Could it be, as Professor Xiao said, that the origins of those zombies are related to this town?"
Lu Jiuchuan nodded: "We suspect the same thing. Should we go in and investigate?"
Xiao Lou led everyone out of Peach Blossom Spring, and sure enough, they saw the " Qingfeng Town " that Lu Jiuchuan had mentioned.
Under the torrential rain in the dead of night, there wasn't a single pedestrian on the streets of the entire town, nor any animal sounds; the silence was eerily quiet.
Yu Hanjiang said, "Everyone put on your Invisibility Cloaks and go inside to check. If things don't look good, immediately return to Peach Blossom Spring."